Valeriana arrived just a minute before Gathering started. The Twelve was complete, and everyone had taken their places. She gave them an embarrassed smile at the thought of being the last to show up, trying to remove her mind from the recent encounter with the lady knight.

"Sorry I'm late, you guys." She apologized, taking her seat.

"You're still early. Those people haven't arrived yet."

"Who are we waiting for?"

"Mm." Keelan was currently munching on one of the bunch of sandwiches prepared before them. His mouth was so full he could not even move his jaws to chew. He swallowed. "DevDept."

Valeriana jumped, excitement making her eyes go bright. "Really? They're coming?"

She wasn't answered as they were all busy with things she was uncertain of. However, she was sure it was a yes.

Val then sat there patiently, waiting for them to show up. Time seemed to tick by longer, twenty minutes passing on the clock like a slow agony.

"Aren't they late already?" Charles questioned. "We're all here early, whose time do they think they're wasting?"

Just a few seconds after the fourth-ranker spoke out his frustration did they hear a knock. Heads turned to the door as the knob turned. The entrance was opened and revealed a group of people around the same age as them, seeming clueless and lost.

"Um . . ." The person standing at the very front was looking down at a piece of paper, a matching pair of russet eyes and hair flashing against the dim light. "This is the Twelve's residences, right?"

"What do you think?" Aneeka called out.

"Yes." Rowe kindly added.

"Finally!" He crumpled the piece of paper and threw it behind him, placing one hand on his waist and wiping a drop of sweat on his brow. "I'm sorry if it took so long for us to find this place. It's very secluded from the academy's learning premises."

"So you guys are the DevDept, is that correct?"

He nodded and stepped forward to introduce himself. "My name is Darcius Darlisle, I'm your student leader."

Keelan looked up, his cheeks bulging. "Mmpff."

Elfre slapped the back of his head scoldingly. "He meant to say hi."

"I see." Darcius gave an understanding nod. "Well, it's an honor of meeting you all. I brought four of the best students in our department with me."

The student leader stepped to the side and allowed the people behind him to step forward. Valeriana sat up and erected her back at the sight of three, familiar faces.

"This is Harley," he pointed to the first person with freckled cheeks and thick, round glasses. The seagreen eyes behind the lenses were dotted with signs of anxiety.

"Cail."

Valeriana gave a smile of greeting at her newfound friends and tried to make them feel welcome despite the current air the entire Twelve was putting up.

"Coral." The familiar candy pink hair with wild, big curls bobbed as cheerfully as its owner.

"Hello there!" She greeted. "I hope this project goes well."

"And Zander."

Mr. Purple's demeanor hadn't changed at all. His face showed no care for the world. Unlike Brindon's plain poker face, he was totally devoid of any emotion. Valeriana could not see any change in the activity of his aura. It seemed so . . . redundant.

"In this collaboration, I pray we--"

"It's Val!" Coral screamed, jumping. "I knew I'd see you here!"

She smiled and waved back shyly. Geez, this girl was very confident. "So you guys will be the ones collaborating with us? I never knew you were part of the DevDept! You should've told me."

"Oops. I guess we forgot about it because of . . ." She trailed off.

"As much as indirect controllers are very suitable for combat, we are compatible to similar engagements such as this." Cail explained. "Since we can see the auras of objects. We know what would be compatible and what wouldn't be."

"You guys are direct controllers? Tamara queried. "Like Valeriana?"

"That's right."

"Valeriana is among the only four in this entire academy with direct control. They're all here in this room." Rowe said, stepping forward. He hospitably nudged their guests to come in. "Every member already thought of possible ideas we can use for the festival. After you hear us out, please feel free to tell us your side and opinion."

Zander, having not said a single word since he entered, went to a more secluded spot. Valeriana could not fathom how difficult this person was, but it seemed that, between him and everyone else, he possessed more control over his own aura . . . though not as great as Lord Lienhard's.

"In a festival, there must be a parade of colors." Raziel held up a complicated illustration of different floats traveling through an open isle.

"That's too boring." Aneeka commented, bringing out a small pistol and admiring the sleekness of its design. "I say we give them a short lesson regarding target-shooting."

"Those are all brilliant suggestions and it shouldn't be too hard to actually incorporate them into the actual program." Rowe began politely, not wanting to offend. "But if we want to be successful in catching the interest of those who will visit, we must have an opening that will keep their attention pinned to everything we'll do. If the opening is lousy, it'll be hard to keep them listening."

"Corvan is an expert in all things summery." Tamara informed them as though it wasn't obvious. "And the Festival of Ember is very relevant to his continent. He should have an idea."

"What do you say, Lord Corvan?"

"The most important asset to make this successful is to make it as genuine as it could be." He answered, looking up from reading a small book with a red jacket and meeting the eyes of those who gazed at him.

"What do you mean by genuine?"

"An Ember Festival is celebrating the hottest time of the year. In a sense, everyone tries to escape it. However, an Ember Festival will encourage to have fun in the midst of the heat." Corvan explained.

"But the academy also says it'll be our . . . recruitment week." Harley reminded.

"It must mean more than a recruitment week." The twins said.

"Like what?"

"The students must be encouraged." Zander simply stated.

They all gazed at him quedtioningly.

"Something regarding the state of the academy and its 'recruitment'. We must be honest about the training they'll go through, but we must show that we enjoy it as much, despite the hardships." Corvan was straight to the point on this matter.

"For the DevDept to show their competence, they must show something innovative." Charles's statement instilled pressure onto the smaller group. "For the Celestial Twelve, I guess showing off our 'skills' will not be enough."

"We usually specialize in the development of gears and weapons for you guys." Cail thoughtfully said, seeming unaffected. "Some other, simpler things should not be much trouble."

"We should probably assign some sort of light show--" Darcius said.

"Won't that take too much time?" Elfre cut in.

"But visual presentation should be considered in highest regard." He countered.

"The content is what matters the most." The seventh-ranker bit at him. "If you're all about presentations, you should go to the theater. You think a simple light show would even impress the people?"

She hit a nerve. The student leader came a bit closer with gritted teeth and gave the ranker with a disagreeing glare.

"Listen! Unlike fighting, the mechanics of all the equipments we'll be using to help set-up this entire festival is not as simple as a water pipe." He told her.

"Are you underestimating the intricateness of combat and self-defense?"

"Alright! Alright!" Tamara stood. "Everyone has good ideas but we'll have trouble trying to determine what we'll do from those."

"You guys." Keelan began. "It's not like we can't display our skills in combat and show off good gears at the same time."

"Not." Brindon agreed.

"He makes a point." Rowe told them. "So please get along."

"Come on, Darcius." His companions nudged.

The third-ranker took everyone's attention for herself and placed both her hands on her waist. Both the Twelve and the DevDept were curious what she had in store, as the onslaught of ideas were seemingly clashing with one another--not to mention the difference in profession.

"Everyone in favor of a good idea, say I. Charles will write all of that down and we'll determine later what we will do with the entire program in total."

Elfre and Darcius turned away from each other disagreeingly.

Valeriana leaned forward and raised her hand in an effort to catch their attention for her announcement of a suggestion.

"Hey." She said. "I know this must be a bit uncomfortable for you guys. But, I have a lot of suggestions."

"Go on."

"We can still base majorly on the cultural traditions commonly done in an Ember Festival." She started, feeling her heart rate speed up as she began to voice it out. "But we can do a 'modern' kind with a special twist, somehow remove the redundancy and present something everyone in general can enjoy. I'm sure displays of close combat is considered a ceremony of some sort. Corvan?"

"Any kind of fight so long as it's honorable and fair is considered." The young lord answered.

"And you're saying . . . ?" Zevlin cocked a brow.

"Maybe we can adapt some technologies from the world I came from?" She smiled up at them.

They gave her a look of shock. Some of the others must have predicted this as they reacted neutrally, but majority had trouble trying to wrap their mind around it. Silence ruled the air for a few moments until Coral snapped her fingers and squealed.

"Ooh! I know what to do!" Her shrieking was deafening. "Yes! It'll be perfect! Val's suggestion is great for this too! What about the ultimate tournament of all time?"

"Huh?"

"What happens if, let's say, for the first time, the fight of the Twelve is amongst themselves? Fighting for the superiority! With a chance to make a grab for the highest rank!?"

"WHAT?!"

"I mean, you guys never challenge each other! IT'LL BE GREAT!" She screamed, gripping Cole's sleeve and shaking him like a rattle. "The festival is supposed to be a week long. With two fights each day during opening and closing time, we'll finish in six days. With that, it will attract a lot of attention and guarantee people's attendance. Isn't this great? We'll just have to plan the programs that'll happen in between! The seventh day will be our finale!"

The Twelve, needless to say, were facing the biggest conflict at the moment.

A fight?

Against one another?

This crazy girl couldn't be serious!

"I think . . ." Tamara's grin turned wide. "I like that idea. Let's do it! This'll be the time we show everyone who really deserves their position!"

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